Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 596 - 507: Street Racing

Chapter 596: Chapter 507: Street Racing

After returning to the palace, Xu Yang first headed to Wei Shiyue’s bedroom to rummage through her belongings.

Wei Shiyue was straightforward by nature, actually a mother dragon prone to losing things. Last time when packing, she left behind at least half of the items she intended to bring and had to pick them up again.

Following Wei Shiyue’s instructions, Xu Yang found many mementos, ornaments, and pieces of jewelry hidden in nooks and crannies.

The most important among these was a stack of draft papers. Wei Shiyue sometimes liked to sketch and doodle. Early drawings featured a family of three: a gigantic White Dragon, a kind and tall woman, and a little girl with white hair. As her style matured, the content of the sketches became expressive of her resentment, showing how she wielded a great axe, facing her own father in battle, with the outcome always being her triumphant victory.

Rinne was more meticulous and helped to search for some odds and ends. She stopped to look at Wei Shiyue’s drawings for a while.

"A warm family," Xu Yang remarked, looking at an early drawing.

"A dragon... and a tall woman," Rinne’s gaze fell upon Wei Shiyue’s rendering of her mother, "That woman is strange.

"She’s not an ordinary woman." Xu Yang also noticed something amiss; Wei Shiyue’s mother was excessively tall, baffling from any perspective. Either the young Wei Shiyue had no understanding of human proportions, or she truly had a mother who was 2.5 meters tall.

She had the capacity to curse Mond itself, which was rather odd. Mond once said she was a woman like a serpent, while Wei Shiyue was deeply attached to her.

"What kind of woman would be that tall." Rinne felt a shiver of eeriness.

"This place is just that kind of terrifying." Xu Yang, not wanting to pry into others’ privacy, gathered the drawings to take back to the Ground, "Let’s go sit on the terrace."

On the secluded palace terrace, Rinne could not get enough of the scenery.

She turned to look at the exquisite palace made of Moon-Silver Stone, then toward the surrounding magnificent scenery—pavilions, towers, gardens, and trees all intricately doesigned for the noble Dragon Clan. Everywhere one could see spires, bell towers, grand libraries, and treasure chambers with towering stone walls and ornate merlons.

Had she not come to the Moon herself, she would never have imagined its "residents" built such massive wonders, comparable to a small city. Moreover, most dragons living in the palace were in deep slumber, leaving vast areas completely deserted, allowing Rinne and Xu Yang to stroll at leisure and enjoy the view.

"We can also go for a spin on the Moon later," Xu Yang had seen a moon rover in the mining area previously, meant for astronauts. It was launched by an early company but ended up confiscated by the Dragonkin. Now it was available for a ride.

"I..." Rinne feared her travels on the Moon would delay matters on the Ground, "...we should return."

"Since it’s rare to come here, we should enjoy ourselves to the fullest," Xu Yang reassured her, "I took care of all the matters on the Ground before coming up here. There won’t be any oversights."

"...Thank you," said Rinne, leaning forward to rest her cheek against the cool, intricately carved railing while turning to look at Xu Yang, "Today has been the most meaningful day of my life."

"There will be many more wonderful days to come," Xu Yang paid attention to Rinne’s lovely deep purple eyes.

"I never thought," Rinne whispered, "that Mr. Web Monitor would go to such lengths for me."

"A side task," Xu Yang said casually, not wanting Rinne to feel any burden, "In the midst of busy life, there must be time for rest."

"What is Mr. Web Monitor busy with?" Rinne observed Xu Yang closely, looking for any flaw in his demeanor, but he was watertight and meticulous in his actions.

"The president is in charge of business operations, the Witch Division confronts enemies head-on, and you operate in the shadows." Xu Yang nodded, "I do more than just web security. I previously designed the model for the Nestor Community and maintained order in the outskirts. Then I prepared for diplomacy. We need to attract as many allies as possible, minimizing enemies. Although we have grand ambitions, we cannot battle on all fronts. At any given time, we must only deal with one opponent, so we must forge alliances to reduce external pressures. Currently, the main focus is negotiating with Xia. You’ve been to Jialong Slope, right?"

"Yes," Rinne nodded, "The giant neutral city in the Eastern Hemisphere."

"Port of the Four Seas," Xu Yang recalled the delicate and fine-tuned diplomatic activities, "Once the access to Jialong Slope is cut off, trade and the flow of goods from Xia to Taixi Continent would be severed, especially the oil supplies. Nestor Corporation has found underwater oil reserves. If we can establish a connection, Xia would be able to purchase crude oil from the nearby Northern Archipelago, reducing its reliance on the Jialong Slope routes."

"Proceeding with such caution must be difficult," Rinne could imagine the current state of the Nestor Corporation.

Just recently established, surrounded by strong adversaries, and although the surface seems calm, undercurrents were rampant. Mr. Web Monitor, as a senior partner, was also striving to create a stable external environment for everyone, to avoid enemies on all fronts.

It’s not easy at all...

"Don’t worry, my talents are more than sufficient for these tasks," Xu Yang turned around, leaning back against the railing, looking into the dark corridor, "Of course, I often feel tired, but chatting with you like this feels good too."

"Mr. Web Monitor’s daughter is really cute," Rinne suddenly mentioned.

"You’ve met her?" Xu Yang nodded. Indeed, anyone who saw Little Fool would not forget her; she was truly unique, "She’s a child I brought back from outside. I named her Xu Cheng."

"Oh..." Rinne sighed with relief.

"You have no idea how withered she looked when I first saw her." Xu Yang gestured, holding his hands flat in the air, "Just this small, just the size of two hands put together, barely looking human. The staff at the orphanage didn’t believe she was a normal child, they fed her spoiled liquid food, tossed her away several times, and yet she silently crawled back, always getting beaten. When she first arrived, she was diseased and malnourished, never before had anyone cared for her. But you’ve seen her now, she has become a good child. I want to see what she’ll be like when she grows up."

"She’ll definitely be an outstanding witch," Rinne said sincerely. Given Xu Cheng’s intelligence and cuteness, one could only imagine how impressive she would be when she grows up, "Nestor Corporation... they are very good to witches."

"Maybe it has changed the fate of many witches." Xu Yang reflected on the countless witches he had met along the way, "The witches of this era."

The witches of the Cyber Era. Rinne chuckled softly, the laugh growing louder, until it gradually subsided, her mirth turning into a look full of hope.

"If I’m to help Mr. Web Monitor, truly becoming an excellent assistant," she looked at her own hands, "I need to become stronger, not just in hacking skills, but also in combat. I want to be... especially powerful, even though my magic power isn’t for fighting, I don’t want to hold anyone back."

"Your combat ability is actually quite strong, I’ve seen the battle recordings from a long time ago on the West Coast," Xu Yang observed Rinne, "You used monomolecular wire in combat then, a type of light yet tough new material wire, capable of easily slicing through bodies; you could eradicate many enemies in an instant."

"After I left the West Coast I went to Jialong Slope." Rinne showed Xu Yang the concealed slots in her arms reserved for the monomolecular wire, which were now empty, "I tried to hack into a gambling game but was discovered by their cybersecurity personnel, triggered an alarm, and was forced to fight with a high-level technician from the local gang. My entire monomolecular wire was cut by a laser axe, so I lost... and then ran here to the Northern Archipelago. The four knives I have on me were stolen after I hacked a street ronin."

"Doctor Cui Junyou in Anjiu City should have new advanced monomolecular wire for sale." Xu Yang nodded, "I’ll give him a heads up, he should be able to install a set for you for free, and can do all the cybernetic upgrades for you as well."

"But I’m already used to using knives." Rinne drew the paired blades at her waist, "They... they can be upgraded too, right?"

"Oh, we have just the facility here." Xu Yang took her to the palace’s blacksmith.

A giant dragonkin blacksmith with black scales sat in the side corridor of the Moonlight Dragon Palace, watching over the burning forge and anvil, spending most of his time helping to maintain and adjust the tools needed by dragon kind, and also responsible for repairing many of the machines in the mines.

Here, they saw a gigantic mechanical beast hanging high up.

It was originally a complete machine, now disassembled into different parts, reassembled into a form resembling a crawling creature; the original metal shell was recast, then applied to a frame made of moon-silver stone, nearly akin to a skinning process, thus turning it into a walking beast with a modern mechanical shell, angular and peculiar.

"What is that?" Rinne was stunned, she also seemed to recognize the machine ID on this black angular beast, which looked like a military combat machine from Black Fire Innovation.

"Aow, the Ancestor’s new favorite concubine, never have I seen the Ancestor love a new bride so much," the dragonkin blacksmith stayed in its spot, "Over time, it has suffered some damage and must be repaired, then infused with a graceful new machine spirit to accompany the Ancestor for a long time. So, engineer, what do you need today?"

"Excuse me, if these mundane weapons were to be honed by dragon fire, they should become even sharper, right?" Xu Yang handed Rinne’s four blades to the dragonkin blacksmith.

It meticulously examined the blades, observing the craftsmanship of modern machinery, and tried to compare it with the artisanship of the Dragon Clan.

Then, it turned toward the dark forge, spewed out a burst of pale dragon fire, ignited the forge, and then thrust the four blades into the melting pot for reforging.

First, it completely melted down the original blades, then added in new moon-silver metal and rare elements to improve the toughness of the weapons, ensuring these knives could be reforged to the standard of Mythical Weapons, capable of damaging alloy steel without difficulty.

The dragonkin blacksmith worked with focused dedication, it would take a few more hours. Xu Yang took Rinne to the mining area and got on the Moon Rover.

Rinne started the machine, Xu Yang sat in the passenger seat, and it moved forward at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour. The large wheels and the resilient suspension system made it feel as if they were driving on flat ground on the moon’s surface. Rinne happily steered the moon rover, constantly recording data, although due to the key information chip being removed, those moon detection reports would never be sent back to the ground.

When they took the old beaten-up rover up a lunar crater, and then nearly vertically plunged down from the edge, the thrill peaked, the rover almost falling apart after completing the circuit. Rinne relished the rush, her laughter echoing on the moon.

...Happier than before, it was the happiest day!

At this moment, Rinne knew she truly had the chance to start a new life. She had new friends, a new organization, and environment, as well as Mr. Web Monitor supporting her silently.

After a while, she slowly drove the moon rover back to the mining area. By then, the rover had lost one-third of its parts, and only the main frame remained. Xu Yang leaned back, the seat design somewhat cramped, jostling him until he felt like falling apart, but Rinne was as happy as could be.

"That was so much fun..." Rinne was loath to part with the exploration vehicle.

Xu Yang turned to her, relieved to see her finally showing a smile fitting her age, with no more brooding or gloomy eyes.

Rinne parked the rover at the mine, made a funny face at the three idle drake supervisors on the mountain top, and before they could get angry, she ran towards the Moonlight Palace, running, jumping, and laughing.

From now on, her new life was beginning.